Topic : 10/14 Campus Crisis

If 1 in 4 girls are being sexually assaulted at college and 84% of the boys don't think that what they did was rape, why are we not addressing the attackers? Why is there not a show about why college boys are doing this? As a society we need to teach boys that this is unacceptable behavior and that they will be held accountable. Instead we try to teach girls how to protect themselves. The implicit message is that "boys will be boys" and it's the girl's responsibilty to not let it happen. If we stigmitized the rapist as much as we do the raped perhaps this would not be happening. Instead we protect the rapist (refer to Dominican College). Again, a "boys will be boys" response.

My dad always said, "If you don't want to get shot in a bar, don't go into a bar", so I understand that I have to protect myself regardless of whose right and whose wrong (they don't put right or wrong on your headstone). But we need to make college campuses safer, not teach girls how to survive in an unsafe environment.

We all need to make common sense choices and not be fools - of course!

Parents need to raise their childern correctly. To be respectful of one another. Parents also need to stop putting the blame on everyone else but themselves when something goes wrong with their child.

Lately people want to blame someone else for any inapproriate behavior. I don't care if a young girl is wearing a playboy bunny suit - if she dosen't want sex - that's it. If the young man is raised correctly he will not force himself on her. We can't abuse someone then say well she was dressed sexy, it's not my fault.

I'm so sick of people not be responsible for their own actions.

As I mentioned before, I never reported what happened to me, I feel badly about that because I know that exposes other women to the same danger from these people. However, I knew that I didn't have the stamina (or the courage) to face the uphill battle that is the legal system. These people had already ripped apart my self-respect, my trust, and my sense of safety. I couldn't bear to throw open my personal life for the jackals, like so many of the people who have posted comments have been, to pick at and rip apart and look for reasons to vilify me, when I was already blaming myself!

We tell rape victims, "You didn't do anything wrong, you shouldn't blame yourself, you need to trust the authorities, we'll take care of you!" We pay lip service to that, but look what actually happens when someone heeds that advice-her life gets infinetly worse!! Everyone, including the system turns on her! As a society we have to decide- WHICH IS IT? do we blame the victim or don't we? Right now we are talking out of both sides of our mouths and victims are being victimized by both the rapists AND society! Thats why so many rapes are not reported and so many victims, if they don't kill themselves, have at least thought about it.